


Like Summer's Rain

by knightenchanted



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Death, Gen, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-27
Updated: 2016-07-27
Packaged: 2018-07-26 17:19:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7582993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knightenchanted/pseuds/knightenchanted
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before she was hailed by Thedas as the Herald and Inquisitor, Evelyn Trevelyan was the most treasured person to someone very dear to heart. Third born child of Bann Robert and Lady Helena Trevelyan, Tomas Trevelyan spent years living under the shadow of his elder siblings and his family’s values, but found a new sense of purpose after the birth of his sister. </p><p>A pre-Inquisition Trevelyan back-story from the POV of Evelyn's brother and the impact of their relationship on each other throughout their lives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like Summer's Rain

According to his mother, Tomas Ricard Trevelyan was never a child who could quietly accept his situation. He was born screaming into the world as if to protest leaving the safety of his mother and into the dangerous and chaotic unknown. Obedience and discipline never befit him, and many considered it a waste of potential that a boy with above average intelligence would squander his conniving mind on pranks to befall his elder siblings.

He was not the ideal Trevelyan, as he had no desire to excel at the lessons required to survive a society of ambitious nobles. Even at the age of four, Tomas felt the absence of pride that his mother and father gave his elder siblings. It was only out of sheer rebellion not to follow in the un-fun ways of Marcus and Anaya that prevented him from being envious of them.

When he found out his mother was with child, Tomas was excited at the prospect of a new sibling. The idea of conducting pranks _together_ was filled with limitless possibilities and plans already hatched in his mind.

Evelyn Vittoria was born on an unusually torrential day in summer. A storm brewed in the hillsides of Ostwick which rattled the windows of the Trevelyan Estate, but only a triumphant sound would be remembered that day when little Evelyn made her early arrival, fighting the howling winds with a piercing cry.  

Helena cradled the tiny body in her arms, an affectionate gaze on her newborn daughter that Tomas had rarely seen from his mother. Spotting her youngest son hovering by the door, she beckoned him over.

"This is Evelyn, she's your sister and she'll need to be looked after for a few years before she's ready to fend for herself. Can you help her with that, Tomas?"

As if sensing another presence nearby, Evelyn opened her eyes, revealing wide grey irises. The storm had halted to a gentle downpour of rain, and her bright eyes reminded Tomas of how the sunlight peaked through the storm clouds outside their window. He poked his finger into her chubby cheeks and she frowned in annoyance, grabbing his finger with her tiny hand to abate her big brother away. Tomas just laughed, but let her grip on him hold.

"Hi Evie. I'm your big brother, Tom."

***

Tomas was sore in every place imaginable, both body and mind beaten to submission. He tried to push the events of the day out of his mind, but his thoughts kept drifting back to them. Marcus didn’t hold back against him on their spar today, and his instructor didn’t hesitate to fault his weak stance. His conversation with his father began and ended with Robert Trevelyan looking at his son like he was a lost cause. Tomas would take a beating from Marcus all day if it could replace the memory of his father’s disappointment.

He slammed the door of the study in frustration. Evie, ever studious, was unsurprisingly already engaged in a novel mother had set for her to read, and glanced up at the interruption. He threw himself onto the lounge with a defeated sigh.

“Why are you sad, Tom?” Evie asked, placing the book down onto her lap.

“Oh me? It’s nothing. Marcus just beat my ass- _butt_ – to the ground in our spar today, father doesn’t think I have the ball- the _nerve_ – to play the Game and mother not-so-subtly suggested that I should probably consider enlisting as a Chantry brother in future. Can you imagine me in those _Maker-awful_ robes Evie _?_ I’d sooner rather tend horses for the rest of my life because at least stable masters look comfortable.” A lump gathered in Tomas’ throat, but he swallowed it thickly.  Before Evie could notice his loss of resolve, he turned away from her, staring into the creases at the back of the lounge. “They all know it. I’m useless.”

The silence that followed made him think Evie had ignored him. He probably would as well.

“That’s such a _dumb_ thing to say,” came her soft reply.

“Riveting rebuttal, Evie.”

He heard the squeak of the leather seat and the thud of her heels as they hit the wooden floor.

“It’s _not true,”_ she answered again with greater volume. “No one is as quick with numbers, or can run as fast as you. Ebony won’t let anyone ride her except you and cook is always sneaking you sweets at night because you always say hello to her. And no one makes great pranks or makes me laugh like you do.”

Tomas waited till the words sunk in before turning back to face her. Her dark ash-brown hair was pinned back away from her face, but loose tresses had freed themselves from its pin. Her nose was scrunched in a very undignified manner, a deep set frown framing eyes brewing to a quiet storm. She sat back in her seat embarrassed, as if she could feel mother’s reprimand already at her unrestrained display of emotions. She kicked her heels off and tucked her knees to her chest. He just managed to catch the murmurs into the folds of her dress. “I don’t think you’re useless, Tom.”

As silence passed between the two Trevelyan siblings again, Tomas realized how lucky he was the day Evie was born. Marcus and Anaya only ever saw him as the little brother who tried to keep up with them, but Evie always remained a step close to his heels, looking up to her big brother with unyielding adoration. He was no first-born heir, no genius, no prodigy that could be of value to House Trevelyan, but _she_ saw value in him, mundane reasons as they were.

Tomas looked at her eyes. She bore the trademark Trevelyan grey eyes like him, but he believed hers always shone a little brighter with childish wonder and hope. At five years old, Evie would start her lessons soon and that meant she would be exposed to the Game, and the manipulation, selfishness and ruthlessness that came with it. The sunlight would be completely hidden behind the clouds, as light was always inevitably smothered out in the Trevelyan House. He wanted to protect that light, and to believe that if any good could come from this family, it would be her.

He smiled at her, “Thanks, Evie.”

Tomas made a silent vow to protect Evie. To not only safeguard her from monsters, demons or evil men, but from their family values of success and prestige, from the incessant need to find accolades to define their worth. She had not yet been tainted by the poisonous desires of glory, and he would do all he could to keep it that way. For if she could see the worth in a boy others had disregarded as a disappointment, so too did he want her to see the worth in herself.  

***

Tomas knew there was something wrong with Evie when she rejected his new idea to prank Anaya. She was always a keen co-conspirator, seeing it as a fun way to practice playing the Game. He found Evie in the gardens stripping petals off crystal grace, and it was a sign that either father or mother was responsible for her down mood. The gardens were always her safe place away from them, as no lessons were taught amongst wild blossoms, honey bees and singing larks. The Games never offered such freedom.

“What’s wrong, Evie?” Tomas asked, cautiously sitting down next to her.

Without pausing from her decimation of their garden, Evie replied, “Father beat me in chess."  

Tomas sighed. “You’re _eight years old._ Father’s been playing for _years-”_

“He said Marcus beat him at my age.”

 _Of course_  father wouldn’t show leniency to Evie. He would never let a defeat go without some lesson to impart. “Well, you're not Marcus-"

"Maybe I want to be," she muttered under her breath. She twirled the stem of the stripped flower between her fingers. "He's good at everything I’m not."

"That's not true. Marcus just started learning chess a year earlier than you.  You had, what, three weeks?”

“Four.”

“And I had two months. Haven’t beaten him in a single game since my first lost and I’ve stopped trying.”

Evie finally placed the stem of the flower back on the ground. “You should keep trying.”

“Only if you do,” he countered back. Evie considered the ultimatum and nodded, still glum.

“You’re only just learning Evie, and that means you have plenty of room to get better," he reassured her. It wasn’t in the Trevelyan nature to display gestures of affection through physical contact, and even now he can’t remember a time he ever hugged a member of his family. Practicality and logical solutions were always their method of comfort, and Evie was likely no exception. "If you want more practice, I can play with you?”

That earned him a radiant smile from Evie, one he wished he had seen from her more often.

“Can we start now?”

Tomas and Evie practiced for weeks, and in that time, he learnt she was an atrocious loser. Every loss she would throw a tantrum accusing him of cheating and then demand a rematch. He took each abuse in stride, for he would rather have her challenge him over and over than give up in defeat. It took her six weeks, but at last when her queen captured his king, she shouted in triumph, insulted him with every harsh quip possible, and he couldn’t be prouder.

***

The following summer, the six Trevelyans made their trip to Ostwick’s capital city to accompany Bann Trevelyan on an important meeting with the Teyrn. Tomas loved the city, as it was always a vibrant bustle of life that was refreshing to the peaceful solitude of the Trevelyan Estate. Tomas was to remain with Evie while his parents and elder siblings attended the meeting, so he took her away from the confinements of the hall's stonewalls into the city’s markets. However, he underestimated the unpredictable traffic the market crowd caused, and Evie soon disappeared out of his line of sight.

In a panic, Tomas went searching for his sister through the crowd and every corner of the streets possible. He eventually found her in a secluded alleyway, merely two streets away from the market. His heart dropped as a man caged her against the wall, a dagger pressed against the surface of her throat. The man grabbed her hand and forced her ring off her finger, a ring Tomas knew bore House Trevelyan’s sigil.

"Trevelyan's kid, ay? What else have you got on you, young miss?"

“I don’t have anything else!” she pleaded and Tomas ran to her in blind fury. As the man reached to remove her cloak, an arc of electric blue lightning shot out from her palm, flinging the thief back against the wall with resounding force. Tomas skittered to a halt, could only stare in stunned disbelief as blood pounded in his ears. It was the groans of the thief that brought him back out of his shock.

“A fucking mage…”

_Mage._

Tomas’ mind shuffled through all the possible consequences of that implication and he tried to focus to consider his priorities in the situation. Tomas spotted the ring in the thief’s hand, bearing the unmistakable silver mare of House Trevelyan’s sigil. The thief knew her as a child of House Trevelyan and had no qualms about robbing her. There was nothing to stop the thief from further profiting by selling this information to rival Houses. Evie would be in even more danger.

“Tom?” Evie whispered, looking at him for a solution. It was the fear in her eyes that automatically had his hand reaching for the dagger the thief had dropped. _Protect her, whatever it takes._

The thief must have imagined the dagger was for Evie, for it could only explain his eyes widening in shock and his feeble attempt to scramble away from Tomas. What a fool he was to think he would ever turn a weapon against his own sister, mage or not.

“Evie, look away please.”

Tomas was fast, the only redeeming factor his instructor had praised him for, and one deep stab through the heart came before the thief could make his escape. The resistance of blade cutting through muscle and fat was nothing like the practice dummies, and he ignored the sensation as he plunged the dagger again for good measure. When at last the man's grip on Tomas loosened and his eyes stared into an endless space, Tomas took the dagger out of his chest.

He had killed someone. The thought should have brought shame or disgust, but he could only feel numb. House Trevelyan was infamous for fighting their battles with weapons of secrets and a silver tongue before the clash of steel. Perhaps this was further proof he really didn’t belong in this family.

Tomas took the ring from the thief and wiped the grime from it clean. He turned to Evie to return the ring to her, only to realise she was still shivering in shock from the chaotic events. When at last their eyes met, there was no hate and no judgement at the revelations of what the other had become, only fear for each other. Today, they became a murderer and a mage, and nothing would be the same from here on.  

Evie stared at the dagger still stained with the thief’s blood, and then burst into tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Tom.” She repeated over and over, and Tomas pulled Evie into his chest. He let her sobs soak through his shirt, all the while the dagger remained guarding her back.

***

Tomas kept Evie’s magic a secret from their parents, and Evie for the most part did her best to prevent her magic from resurfacing unwanted.

Soon after the events in the alley however, Evie became plagued by horrific nightmares. Tomas had read this before, that mages were more attuned to the Fade and the demons that lurked there. It was what made them more susceptible to possession. She told him about the spiders in her dreams, and the largest one of all they called Nightmare. It knew about her fear of being discovered, of being worthless to her family, and her fears became their strength.

Tomas comforted Evie during her periods of nightmares, promising her he would always protect her no matter what and that no one would take her away. It was the promise _she_ asked of him, however, that he was hesitant to keep.

“If I got possessed by a demon, promise you’ll kill me.”

Tomas stared agape at Evie. “You can’t ask something like that-”

“I can’t be a danger to anyone, especially not to you," she said with greater resolve, and the grey eyes that had trembled with fear over the last year hardened to steel.  "Promise me Tom, that if you had no choice, you won’t hesitate.”

It was a practical request, but one a nine-year-old shouldn’t have been so adamant about. Tomas wasn’t the only person to abandon their childhood innocence in the alley. Since then, the two were bound to each other in their secrets. She trusted him with her life, and a promise to protect Evie meant a promise to protect herself from hurting others as well.

“Okay, I promise."

It was after a particularly bad nightmare that Evie lost control of her magic in the subconsciousness of sleep, burning Tomas’ arm as he tried to wake her. She knew then if she couldn’t control her magic, she was a danger to everyone around her and she would not take that risk. She made her confession known to her parents, only concealing the truth that Tomas had kept her secret for her. Their parents were shocked, but ever practical in solutions, they knew immediately that she had to be taken to the Circles to control her magic. Tomas protested that there had to be another way, but even Evie agreed it was the necessary solution.

The Templars arrived a few days later in the middle of the night. Before Evie boarded the carriage that would seal her fate away, Tomas slipped the dagger he kept from the thief to her.

"Keep yourself safe, whatever it takes. Don't let anyone hurt you. I'll find a way to protect you, I promise."

Her departure was organised to be quiet and discrete. The revelation of a Trevelyan housing magic could be used as a means of undermining their family, and both Robert and Helena took great measures to ensure that their House's reputation remained in their control.  Evie was still their daughter, and so they arranged her protection from abuse in the Circles, but neither would consider fighting to keep her when she could no longer serve under her House's name.

The Games of nobility disgusted Tomas and he would have no part in a life where people were little more than pawns in a grand game of chess. Instead he held on to his promise to Evie, even if it meant surrendering himself to the Circles as well.

***

For five years, Tomas trained relentlessly as a Templar recruit. He lacked the muscular build or brute strength that many of the other recruits were blessed with, and his defeat with Marcus proved that pretending otherwise was folly. But he was nimble and had a keen mind for the direction a battle could take, and if his father taught him anything useful, it was to play to all of his strengths. The Chant reading was inexplicably dry, but so much had already been beaten over his head in his private tuitions that it became automatic to him. Tomas was met with praise and respect by his superiors, and his easy-going and boyish charm attracted a friendly following within his cohort. It was an unfamiliar feeling not to be looked over in contempt, and for the first time, he felt he belonged somewhere.

Tomas was eighteen when he arrived at Ostwick’s Circle as an official Templar. Evie was no longer a child, a young adolescent at fourteen and at some point over the years, she took great liberty to shed her childish appearance. Her dark ash-brown waves were always kept in a neat ponytail, her shoulders pushed back and chin high. She never dropped her gaze for anyone and commanded the air around her. Without her mage robes you would think her a proud noble-born, a Trevelyan worthy of her name.

When at last Tomas found an opportunity to speak to Evie privately, her relief at her elder brother’s appearance quickly turned to a cold reception.

“Evie…” he began.

“Don’t call me that anymore. It makes me sound like a child again,” she snapped, and he wanted to point out she was barely out of the years of childhood to claim such things so boldly.

“What’s wrong with that?” he countered instead.

Something passed in Evie’s eyes, a twinge of sadness and loss that was reminiscent of the last look she gave him out the window of her carriage. “Evie wasn’t someone who would have survived the Circles.”

"What do you mean?"

It took some coaxing before Evie – or _Evelyn_ as she preferred - dropped her guard and explained what the early years in the Circle were like. It was not the Templars who had hurt her, as he had originally envisioned, but her own mage peers. Many knew her ties to House Trevelyan and shunned her as a traitor for their family’s infamous loyalty to the Chantry. No Templar would find reason to aid her either, and she was left isolated from both sides.

Evie had to change if she wanted to make it in the Circles. She had to believe she was no longer a victim, but a self-reliant survivor and a player of the Game. Like a true player, she had her mask ready, concealing her true emotions and untouchable by anyone’s words. The bright eyes that shone like the welcome rain clouds in summer now only held the fury of a brewing storm. 

"You said to keep myself safe and to not let anyone hurt me. So I made sure I did, just not in the way you expected," she explained, before reaching into her boot to take out the carefully concealed dagger he had gifted her. "The Circles are like the Games Tom: you have to become something _more_ to win. I decided back then that I refused to waste away here as nothing and I _will_ win this game.”

For the next few years that followed, the ambitious nature of the Trevelyans and her lessons in the Game became her weapon. The Circle was her Grand Game; mages, Templars and the Chantry all her opponents, and her actions targeted undiscriminatingly as long as they served her purpose. She formed the necessary alliances and used the secrets of her rivals to remove them from contention.  Apprentice Evelyn rose quickly through the Circle’s ranks. She passed her Harrowing at seventeen, earned the title of Enchanter at twenty and was taken in as a protégé of First Enchanter Lydia.

Tomas watched like a stoic guard as the girl who reached out in compassion to him became a woman who chased after titles and rank to secure her place in the Circles. But in all those years, Tomas never saw reason to intervene, for she kept herself safe better than he ever could.

***

As an Enchanter, Evelyn was required to mentor new apprentices with their magic. Templars were to preside the lessons in case of any stray or uncontrolled magic and this was the first session Tomas had been stationed with Evelyn. Truthfully, he had always preferred guarding these lessons, as it was devoid of the grim stakes of failed Harrowings or hunting Apostates.

The level of proficiency in the room varied significantly. There was one young apprentice named Nina, little more than ten years old, who had spent the better part of the hour struggling to conjure the fireball all the apprentices were required to demonstrate.

"I can't do this," Nina whined, and Evelyn took her aside from the other apprentices to sit her down. Tomas kept his ear on them.

"Of course you can, Nina," Evelyn reassured her, and gave her an encouraging smile. "When I was your age, I couldn't even conjure a ball of fire in my hands. I feared my magic because I thought it only ever hurt people, so I tried to lock it away. When it came time for my lessons, my magic resisted me because it knew I still didn’t accept it. But then I remembered that magic is a tool, only dangerous if you have the intent to harm others or lack the control to wield it. A knife doesn't hurt people in the hands of a cook, does it? Magic is no different."

Nina looked at her with renewed hope, "And did you get better after that?"

"Not right away. I practiced and studied out of my lessons, and I kept trying until I could do _more_ than just a ball of fire." Evelyn casted a small ball of flame, letting it hover over her palm before it shifted into lightning and then ice. Versatility and control was Evelyn's pride, but it was only achieved in the culmination of years of practice. "You are only just learning Nina, which means you have the potential to get better. Don't ever let anyone tell you you're not capable of more."  

Tomas realised then how wrong he had been. He had held the Evie he knew as a child too close to his heart that he believed she had been left behind the moment Evelyn had followed her ambitious desires. But it was not that Evelyn had abandoned the sweet little girl, she merely became an extension of her. A capability for ruthlessness and wiser at guarding her heart, but still with the compassion for the beaten down and the broken.  

Tomas left his post and approached her with an easy grin. "Stealing my words now are you, Evie?"

Evelyn glanced at him and sent Nina away to practice with the other apprentices.

"Still with that name..." she sighed, though not with the same coldness as before.

"You'll always be Evie to me. 'Evelyn' is too pretentious for my taste."

"Do you think I’m pretentious, then?" Her mask was back on, and it was Enchanter Evelyn that stared at him with impassive eyes, daring him to insult her. Only now did he realise that her mask was merely a deflection against words that could be used to hurt her, to protect the girl who deep down feared she was never enough.

"No, I just think you wear that mask a little too tight sometimes."

Her eyes widened in surprise briefly, and she ran a hand through the end of her ponytail. She seemed less sure of herself, as if it was the first time someone had called her out on her duality.

“That’s not true-”

"Don’t worry, I’ll keep your secret,” he winked. “It's helped you this far, hasn't it?"

Evie blinked up at Tomas and she finally dropped the façade, leaving herself exposed to him. It was a trust she rarely afforded others and one he would never abuse. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. " _You_ did as well. You’re right, I stole your words from when I lost to father, but it was because I never forgot them. Believing I always had the potential to be better kept me going each day when you weren't here.”

“I’m glad,” he grinned.

She smiled back at him, a warm and genuine smile that no mask of hers could fully do justice. "You did so much for me, Tom. Thank you for everything. For following me into the Circles and protecting me. For always being there for me even when you weren’t. Whatever you need, I’m here for you too.”

 _I know,_ Tomas thought, _I’ve known since sixteen years ago._ Without her _,_ he would have rebelled without cause, accepted defeat without attempting redemption and considered himself without worth or purpose. He was proud that after all they had been through, she was still standing here today, smiling at him. He would do all he could to keep that smile. A memory resurfaced of what used to bring little Evie to tears of laughter.

"Well now that you mention it, I had this great idea to prank my quarter mate– he's such a stiff snob like Marcus, you wouldn't _believe_ the resemblance _–_ and I could use my old partner in crime to help me pull it off..."

A mischievous glint in her eyes reminded him of the young Evie, ready to participate in whatever pranks Tomas had concocted. It was a happier piece of their childhood, and perhaps it was a sign that a part of Evie and Tom had never truly changed over the years.  

"What do you need me to do?"

***

Ostwick’s Circle was notoriously civil compared to most Circles, and it was one of the few to remain neutral even during the Mage-Templar rebellion two years later. Those that wanted to join the rebellion were free to leave, but Tomas and Evelyn were amongst those who remained in the collapsed Circle, believing that peace was still possible between mages and Templars. Their relationship was proof of that.

After the death of First Enchanter Lydia, a small council of Senior Enchanters and Knight-Templars served as the leaders of the Circle. Their current goals were to keep as many Templars and mages safe as possible, and Ostwick’s Circle became known as a neutral sanctuary for those who did not wish to take part in the war. Part of their goals required a small unit of mages and Templars to venture outside the Circles and invite those in who wished to find asylum.

But not all considered the possibility of returning to the Circles welcoming.

Tomas and Evelyn took part in one of these ventures, along with Templar Camilla and Enchanter Iven. This particular group of mages they approached became hostile, distrusting their intent for amnesty. One resorted to blood magic in her desperation.

“Andraste's ass she’s summoning a demon!" Tomas warned to his group. Evie immediately casted a barrier over them and the others readied their weapons.

The shade the blood mage had summoned was larger than most, bearing a skull-like face and a twisted helix body. An ash wraith. He didn’t want to imagine the sacrifice required to bind that demon to her.

"Camilla, draw the ash wraith away. Evie, keep our barrier up and preserve your mana where you can. Iven you're with me," Tomas ordered. As Camilla taunted the wraith to her, Tomas and Iven focused on subduing the other mages.

Tomas blocked the incoming fire projectiles with his shield and any he missed were absorbed by Evie’s barrier. Iven’s barrage of lightning flew past him, attempting to drain the other mages’ barriers as well. As soon as Tomas was close enough to the hostile mages and far enough from Evie and Iven, he unleashed a Holy Smite. He managed to knock out three of the mages in range, while the other two turned their attention to him in his now weakened state. Together they casted a large inferno spell and Tomas braced his shield for defence. A thick wall of ice erupted in front of him, blocking the flame’s path. He turned to Evie and she nodded back, flicking her wrist to create additional steps on the wall.

As soon as his stamina recovered, Tomas climbed over the wall using Evie’s slats to leap at the unsuspecting mages. He landed directly on one and hastily recovered to shove the other mage against the ice wall. With all mages stunned or unconscious, Tomas refocused his attention back on the ash wraith.

Camilla was resilient in her strikes and managed to land a few slashes against the wraith. Evie and Iven were concentrating their attacks with ice magic, and the demon appeared close to yielding. But the demon knew it was outnumbered, and played its last trick.

It dematerialised into the ground, and Tomas realised it’s plan was to first take out the mage responsible for their barrier. _Evie._ Tomas ran to shield her and he felt her barrier on him begin to drain, but in that moment he cared for little save for ensuring Evie would not take a direct hit from the demon. He knocked her aside and the wraith rematerialized just as the barrier wore out - but his shield lifted a fraction too slow. Its flame blast hit him directly in the chest, and a claw quickly followed through the weakened metal. He yelped as it cut into his flesh with a sharp pain.

"Tom!"

The wraith immediately became frozen in a pillar of ice and Camilla finished it with a stab through its body. Tomas collapsed just as the demon faded away.  

Evie scrambled to his side, attempting to remove his armour to inspect his wound.

"Tom! Fuck that was reckless of you."

When she finally removed the armour, a deep gash was revealed across his chest. She hovered her hand over the wound and he felt a tickling sensation where her mana poured into him. The blood continued to drain from him faster than she could heal.

“Maker that tickles Evie, is it supposed to feel like that?” he joked in between labored breaths.

“Just shut up will you and let me concentrate,” she snapped, injecting more mana into him. The feeling was wrong, the magic wavered and refused to focus on the wound. She never had a strong affinity with healing, but he knew even this was a mortal wound few could heal. He began to feel light-heated. He met her eyes, and the steel that the grey had become over the last few years softened as she realized the futility of her attempt. “I can't – I'm sorry Tom. I'm not good enough for this..."

“What a _dumb_ thing to say," he smirked, echoing her words to him all those years ago. He placed his hand over her own, smiling at her despite the tears that had welled up in her eyes. "You have always been good enough. This just isn't something anyone's best can fix.”

There was a strange sort of peace as Tomas came to accept his fate. He had given his life to save Evie, and he knew that if either was going to achieve some good in the world, it would be her. Because Tomas was content with saving his sister, he was content with protecting mages and fighting demons, but he had no desire to change the world. Evie was never content in small achievements, and he truly believed she had the capacity to do so much more if only she applied compassion to her ambitions.

Tomas had made it his mission to keep the light in her eyes and he still believed it burned within her. Evie – Evelyn, whatever masks she wore or titles she claimed, he would love unconditionally. He only wished that one day she would no longer need those masks or titles, and she could be free to love herself as he loved her.


End file.
